11/25/09

11/24/09

Audible Dwelling opened this evening with many people turning out to experience the spaces and hear the speech. Learning Site created a speech especially for this installation in Columbus. The speech Is this Columbus, Ohio? can be heard here.

Members of the community are invited to engage with Audible Dwelling, which is in Columbus through March, by proposing output of sound and use of sites: what do you have to say? what do you want to hear? tell us.

11/6/09

Through the hard-work of many nimble fingers, the tongue and groove siding is finally in place! Next up: Finishing the doors, installing the speakers, and lining the interior with felt.--Cassie \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

11/3/09

Our friends Henrik, Martin and Gabby Steiner of RG created a video compiled of the activities that took place during their residency in October. It included a banner workshop and The Readymade Demonstration. The peaceful demonstration occurred in the streets of Columbus on October 17, concluding on the front steps of the Statehouse.--Cassie\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/31/09

To say the least, tonight was a unique but exciting way to spend Halloween night in Columbus. The dedicated crew of Audible Dwelling including Viggo, Cecilia, Rikke, Jamie, Diana, Nate, Cassie, Nicholas, Brian, Frank, Ian and myself met the truck carrying the long-overdue delivery of wood. The wood is Western Red Cedar from certified sustainable forestry in British Columbia. It is custom tongue and groove designed to accommodate the exterior curves of Audible Dwelling.

Ian and Frank quickly began cutting it to size.--James\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The small holes on the face of the structure are where speakers will be placed and project the recorded text into the surrounding area.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The recording is underway for the text that will be played from the multiple speakers inside of the Audible Dwelling. The fictive text imagines that the parking lot is addressing those who are driving by in their cars, and urges listeners to protect parking lots as a part of American culture; until the end when even the opinion of the voice begins to change.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/28/09

Paris-based collective Claire Fontaine gave a public talk on subjects related to the Women's Movement of 1977 in Italy, Autonomia, the war economy, and libidinal economy.

Although focused, the political discourse spoke through the words and quotes of others, and situated itself with examples of Berlusconi's rise to power through his non-state sanctioned television station. Aspects of his typical platform speeches, and young teenagers dancing as sexual object during daytime television did not present or defer a moralistic stance, but rather showed individual situations that all contributed to the failure of the revolution.

The discussion also addressed a new neon work entitled WARM WAR outside, situated in a public space of the city. Its place in a public space recognized the constant presentness of war and the necessity to speak of it on the street, and the possible lack of such a conversation in America. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/25/09

Tercerunquinto proposed to inscribe “It Was Built To Fail” on the exterior surface of City Center Mall. The inscription is based on a statement issued by Mayor Mike Coleman about the fate of the mall. Tercerunquinto wanted to make the inscription and allow it to remain until the mall was demolished. Although we attempted to contact city officials about this proposal, no response was ever received. City Center Mall is currently being demolished.--James

Bill Daniel presented his dual projection film Sunset Scavenger, documentary essay on "low-down survival strategies in a world of ecologic and economic collapse." The film explored the aftermath of Katrina, and post-apocalyptic motivations for boat-building while reclaiming the story of Noah ark's as ecological foreboding.

Bill brought the van into the Canzani gallery for a video projection onto the sails and a one night installation of photographs.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/23/09

Ryan Griffis of The Temporary Travel Office visited Columbus to discuss Parking Public, an initiative that documents histories and current conditions of public parking in a number of cities, including Champaign, IL and Los Angeles. In the discussion he interweaved parts of the film Parking Public: A Tour Into the Storage of Utopia to analyze contexts and developments of surface parking in the United States. The film examines the role parking lots play within the American landscape; a role which is more than just a last minute addition.

The Temporary Travel Office has conducted tours of parking in Brooklyn, Champaign, IL, Hollywood, CA, and downtown Los Angeles. Ryan's visit was in conjunction with Learning Site's residency because Audible Dwelling is located in and responds in part to parking lots in Columbus.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/21/09

Today, in a Walmart parking lot, friends and curious onlookers gathered to follow the collective VITALforms as they drifted away in a hot air balloon, while reading fragments of poems and texts. Those on the ground navigated the streets to best close the distance between themselves and the balloon in order to communicate through the use of megaphones. As the conversation explored the discourse of love, trying to negotiate such a distance literally became an exercise on the idea of longing.

The conversation continues at the VITALforms blog. Be sure to check back for more images, thoughts, and a transcription of the conversation.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Solar modules have been selected and ordered for Claire Fontaine's neon work WARM WAR. It will take four modules to power the 35 watt neon sign from dusk to dawn. The work will be installed on the south-east wall of the Amelita Mirolo Fine Arts Building (161 N. Grant Ave.), just on the periphery of CCAD's campus.

The installation is complete on Monday October 26.

Beginning October 26 Claire Fontaine is in residency and will give a talk on subjects related to the Women's Movement of 1977 in Italy, Autonomia, the war economy, and libidinal economy on Wednesday, October 28 at 6 p.m. at the Office of Collective Play.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Today, the many books, boxes, wood and cement blocks used for Red76's Pop-Up Book Academy and TMF Co. were dispersed for free to those who passed by the Office of Collective Play or responded to a FREE Craigslist posting. The off-site storefront space in which our programming has been operating since September 10 is not completely weatherproof. Rain continues to leak inside, making potential damage to books and more.

10/17/09

Today The Readymade Demonstration took over streets in downtown Columbus in a peaceful protest march to the Statehouse. Organized by Henrik Mayer and Martin Keil of RG, the demonstration considers the same action which occurred in East Germany on November 4, 1989 as a revolutionary technique which questions the politics of protest today.

During the demonstration, Martin and others urged those on the street to join while chanting, "Wir Sind Das Volk" or "We Are The People."See more photos of The Readymade Demonstrationhere.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

With the effort of many helpful hands, the construction of Audible Dwelling is moving along impressively. Stop by to check it out for yourself at the east CCAD parking lot, near the visiting artist house. The structure for the two buildings was inspired by the pair of 19th-century dwellings standing in the parking lot.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/16/09

Artist Ben Kinsley started his visit tonight with a reading from "A Year with Swollen Appendices: Brian Eno's Diary," a text about play, improvisation and collaboration. But the fun had just begun. Ben talked about his works including organizing a maritime themed play, uniting a medieval battle society and a fantasy metal band, making music with his face and body, and coordinating a Google Street View like none other.

And last but not least, Ben finished the evening with a sing-along of some favorite songs from Iceland locals. (Would you believe Britney Spears fits in there?)--Cassie\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/15/09

This morning we received our official permit for The Readymade Demonstration.

On Saturday, RAIN OR SHINE we will meet at 2 p.m. at the CCAD Quad (corner of E. Gay St. and Cleveland Ave.). We will be led by Henrik and Martin of RG west on East Gay Street to South High Street to the West Statehouse Lawn.

SEE YOU THERE!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/14/09

Learning Site is back in Columbus and building Audible Dwelling in the east CCAD parking lot, near the visiting artist house. Stop by to witness the process and make sure not to miss the opening event on Tuesday, November 3 at 5:30 p.m. at Audible Dwelling.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/13/09

Tonight Henrik Mayer and Martin Keil of RG held a workshop for making banners and flags used during the demonstration in East Germany on November 4, 1989, the day one million people descended in protest in Alexanderplatz in East Berlin. It was five days before the wall fell on November 9. RG's informal public discussion and workshop considers the demonstration model as a revolutionary technique in relation to contemporary capitalist economies while recognizing the historic importance of the 1989 demonstration in Germany.The banners and signs made are exact replicas of those used in the original German protest 20 years ago. They will be used in the peaceful demonstration on October 17. While the action might not seem politically relevant to Columbus, it encourages one to consider the politics of disrupting everyday use of public space and viability of demonstration today.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/7/09

At the Office of Collective Play on this final evening of Red76's residency, Sam and Gabriel voiced gratitude and thanks to everyone for the all the hard work, collaboration and conviviality had over the course of the past month. The event this evening came full-circle within the framework of Surplus Seminar as Mark Van Fleet and friends finished the night with a performance made by manipulating found tapes, complementing Gabriel's performance at the opening night kick off.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/6/09

The lunchtime dedication and recognition of A/AA concluded Red76's residency on a promising note. With their departure, A/AA is ready to be adopted and moved to another site by those who want to continue working on the schoolhouse and using the space for whatever purpose they see fit.

Also, if you or someone you know would like to find out what will become of A/AA schoolhouse after Red76's departure, or you have an idea, call 1 (888) 339-4496 for more information.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The S(O)S Temporary, built in 8 hours from the remnants of an old staircase as part of Dylan Gauthier's TMF Co. Skill Share with help from CCAD students, teachers, and friends, makes a surprisingly functional boat. And look, the crew couldn't be prouder!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Screenprinting students from a class at CCAD taught by Elizabeth Gerdeman created an art book for A/AA. After visiting the schoolhouse and speaking with Sam and Gabriel, students felt compelled to engage with the project by contributing a collaborative artwork to the site. Each student made at least one page (front and back) using primarily surplus materials, most of which were gleaned from CCAD campus. In the book, students responded to issues regarding exchange of knowledge, activism, repurposing and reuse of materials, commodification of objects, advertising--all in their unique artistic styles and interests as art students.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/5/09

Dylan Gauthier talked about his involvement with the collective Mare Liberum, and boat-making as an act which enables exploration, possible freedom and a self-sustaining activity. The history of boats made from surplus materials is not just limited to leisure items, but extends to Cuban or Senegalese refugees or permanent drifters where it is a matter of their life rather than pleasure.

The methods and plans for the boats Mare Liberum creates are made simple enough for even the most novice builder to complete, making it accessible to all. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/4/09

In this first of two TMF Co. sessions Dylan Gauthier of Brooklyn, New York from boat fanatics Free Seas shares his skills in cooperative boat building out of surplus materials. Dylan gathered with volunteers and eager students interested in how they could make their own boat alongside A/AA, followed by TMF Co. part two on Monday night. His experience with building boats began with a project called Empty Vessel on Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal; a very polluted, yet very underutilized waterway in New York.

If you missed out, you can see the whole process here.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

10/3/09

Focusing on the 1981 Provos (Irish Hunger Strikes), Ola Stahl's YouTube School essay utilized simultaneous direct narratives of both IRA and Loyalists to detail the Irish prison system under British rule in the late 1970's/early 1980's.

For this edition he made a dual projection, one with interviews of Irish republican prisoners and another interviews of loyalists, along with contemporaneous news clips. The audience was encouraged to get up out of their chairs and walk around the space, going back and forth between the projections. The viewing experience underscored the intricacies inherent, yet commonly undermined, within any political struggle, and how difficult it is to have the whole picture.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

9/30/09

Tonight was the second of artist and editor Ola Stahl’s two PBA sessions which work their way through the journal entries of his Great Uncle. For this session, Ola talked more about his personal process of working with found texts and sounds in relation to desolate Swedish bunkers found along the southern coast.

His project Concrete & The Smear is the outcome of the accumulated readings which were recorded inside and outside of the bunkers. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Join us on Tuesday October 6 at noon for a lunchtime dedication and recognition of all the collaboration and hard work on A/AA. Later that night, be sure not to miss out on the festivities for the Open House and final day of residency for Red76. Join us for music and drinks at the Office of Collective Play. Come check out the sites of Pop-Up Book Academy, TMF Co., and YouTube School for Social Politics and learn how to continue the work.

Also, if you or someone you know would like to be a part of the discussion about what will happen to the A/AA schoolhouse after Red76's departure, and what will be done with it, meet us at the dedication on Tuesday, or call 1 (888) 339-4496.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

We are in the third week of the Lyotard reading group. This week we began discussing the 1970s Italian Worker's Movement Autonomia in relation to the book Libidinal Economy. These topics will be addressed by Claire Fontaine when they arrive at the end of October.

Autonomia was an experiment with politics as non-unified, non-hierarchical; a new working class of workers against work, or at least trying to reduce it. The struggle of these workers was not for better conditions, but for a redefinition of work. Or rather, to just not work at all in a full-out "Human Strike." --Cassie

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9/29/09

The route has been decided for The Readymade Demonstration. Led by Martin and Henrik of RG, we will leave the grounds of Columbus College of Art & Design at 2 p.m. and walk west on East Gay Street, then south on South High Street until arriving at the Ohio Statehouse lawn. On the lawn Martin and Henrik will give a brief speech and participants will place a candle in front of the Statehouse.

Today permits are filed for usage of the Statehouse lawn and the streets. Join Martin and Henrik for a banner making workshop and public discussion on Tuesday, October 13, at 5:30 p.m. at the Office of Collective Play. Then mark your calendars!--The Readymade Demonstration begins Saturday, October 17 at 2 p.m. on CCAD's quad.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

One structural component of Audible Dwelling is both public loudspeaker and interior space from which sound is emitted from it. These illustrations are part of the planning. The diagram is a cross-section of the loudspeaker component with attention to the "transmission line," a strategy for constructing and tuning the enclosure of a speaker to match the resonant frequency of the woofer. While sound is projected outside from the woofer (in the bottom left of the drawing), the woofer also makes an equal and opposite recoil into the interior of Audible Dwelling. The labyrinthine path in this sketch traces the interior trajectory of this opposite force from the woofer, connecting the woofer to the "out-take" window (top right), tuning the enclosure.

9/28/09

Tonight artist and editor Ola Stahl from Malmö, Sweden, presented the first of his two-part Pop-Up Book Academy. He worked his way through the journal entries of his great uncle; a journeyman laborer who moved to the United States from Sweden and stayed here for well over a quarter-century prior to World War II. Although some of the texts might have been more intimate or extraordinary in their nature, their main interest to Ola is in the poverty or simplicity of the language, and the multiple ways in which he can say the same phrase through the translation act.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

9/27/09

Dustin Click shared techniques of his bag-making project called Gnarly Toothed Bags. Dustin makes the custom bags to order, but he can also include fabrics that might have a special meaning to the person who is receiving the bag.

Also, Gabriel Mindel Saloman presented his Kollective Kim-Chee video on the process, and the reasons on how and why to make your very own Kim-Chee.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

9/25/09

In this third--double feature--edition of the YouTube School for Social Politics Robby Herbst of the L.A. based Journal of Aesthetics and Protest presented his essay "Mediation, Self-Marginalization and Post-politics in Protest Media," a look at the movement away from protest in the public sphere and into a strangely hermetic form of communication and resistance.

Then Red 76's Gabriel Saloman presented his essay on "Mystery Ecology." It is both an examination of an oft ignored, or downplayed, component of the global environmental movement which seeks to preserve natural space due to its "sacred value," as well as an inquiry into the imaginal and spiritual loss that is endured by the destruction and invasion of wilderness.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Headquarters* & Participants

DOSSIER

Descent to Revolution is an exhibition featuring five international artist collectives and collaboratives that respond to the social and economic frameworks of a city. This blog documents their activities and productions during residency in Columbus, Ohio. Visit Bureau for Open Culture to learn about the exhibition and the artists.

Office of Collective Play is the headquarters and programming for Descent to Revolution. It is located downtown at 155 N. 5th St. at E. Spring St.